All 4 Uses of

intervene

in

Childhood's End

In the early days of their rule, they had intervened so effectively on behalf of law and order that the lesson had never been forgotten.†
Chpt 6 *

intervened = got involved or came between

If they had never intervened, we might have reached Mars and Venus by now.†
Chpt 12

Without our intervention, the Earth today would be a radioactive wilderness.†
Chpt 14

intervention = get involved; or come between

What we did to improve your planet, to raise your standards of living, to bring justice and peace-those things we should have done in any event, once we were forced to intervene in your affairs.†
Chpt 20

intervene = get involved or come between

Definitions:

(1) (intervene as in: intervened in the war)
the process of getting involved to influence an outcome
The exact meaning of intervention can depend upon its context. For example:
- "intervention program for at-risk youth" -- a process of trying to influence the direction of someone's life
- "medical intervention" -- action taken to improve a medical outcome
- "military intervention" -- interference by a government in affairs of another government (in this case to interfere militarily)
- "had a family intervention" -- an organized meeting of family members to encourage someone (who is often surprised) to recognize and work at solving a problem such as substance abuse
(2) (intervene as in: in the intervening years)
something between two other things -- especially the passage of time between two events
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Much more rarely, intervene can mean:
in various senses, including:
- to verbally interrupt -- as in "Not now!' she intervened."
- to be physically between -- as in: "You can't walk from one hill to the other because an impassable river intervenes."